Team Tau
by Race Baj 2.0
Summary: A new Raven Organization called the Tau are started, A new chapter, Gavin has another mission, and he suspects a spy is in the base.
1. Forming The Tau

Team Tau

By Race Baj

  
  


I do not own the Armored Core series.

  
  


Chapter 1: Forming the Tau

  
  


Gavin Leag, a young adult, with deep brown hair, stepped into the dark, musty smelling room. A young man sat hunched over his desk, a cigarette propped in his mouth. Several folders were piled up on his desk, and he seemed like he hadn't slept in a while. He was a tall looking man with light blond hair. He was working on a folder that said staff applications. He seemed nervous and looked up.

"Yes?" The man asked, a slight tone of nervousness in his voice.

"My name is Gavin Leag, I am here for the application for a AC pilot." Gavin replied.

"And you have seen the ad? The one that says AC required?" The man said raising his eye brown in surprise.

"I have one." Gavin answered.

"That's uncommon..." The man was skeptical.

"Not if you used to be a officer of AvSEC." The man's eyes went wide. AvSEC stood for Avon Sector, a AC piloting law enforcement. While it was often said they committed great crimes themselves, they still held a high level of respect.

"It is if you are as young as yourself." Most pilots that retired or had done great missions for AvSEC would get a AC from the company, it was well funded, but it was uncommon for someone as young as Gavin to have completed a great mission to get his own AC.

"I found a way to avoid AvSEC officials..." Gavin explained, with a seriousness in his voice. This was big news to The man, if Gavin was a 'grunt' it may give unwanted attention to his organization. A 'grunt' was the title to a soldier who had stolen a AC from AvSEC, because of their hypocrisy, and sought to go into business himself. AvSEC was known to kill the 'grunts' but for ones that they were having trouble getting, they would send as much to 3 ACs after them. If they brought that to attack the grunt, going through his organization wasn't a problem.

"How long ago to you become a 'grunt'?" A smile crept upon Gavin's lips, which was surprising, normally the term 'grunt' angered a former AvSEC member.

"About 2 years." Gavin's honesty was questionable after that, he would either have to be very lucky, or very good.

"Are... are you serious?" The man felt he should have used more tact but he blurted it out. Gavin gave a low chuckle at the comment.

"Yes, I am. So do I have the job?" The man was in a tight situation. Without a pilot, which he had no success in getting, the organization would cave, but with this pilot, he might get unwanted AvSEC attention.

"Yeah sure, but at the first sign of AvSEC attackers, you leave here!" The man added the last part with sternness in his voice. 

"Well then if that's the case you won't have me for very long." Gavin smiled as he held his hand out.

"Fine, the name is Asher." The man said shaking Gavin's hand. "You're a life saver."

"I can see that." Gavin replied motioning to all the papers on the desk.

"I am the owner of this team, quite frankly we are in desperate times, we are on the verge of bankruptcy!"

"How long will it take you to get a mission ready?"

"Well we can put out one to Old Vega city, not many Ravens take missions there."

"Good, I will need to be shown where I can bring my Raven."

"Mathias, one of our repair crews, will drive you there, he will be in the hanger.

  
  


Gavin hopped into the jeep, it was the standard black and green transport vehicle, common in those areas. A short, man with dark brown hair was sitting in the drivers place, and gunned the engine.

"I'm Mathias." He explained to Gavin. "Where are we headed?"

"About 20 minute drive from here, in hanger B-21."

"Alright." They drove off, quiet for awhile, Mathias didn't seem talkative and Gavin decided to respect that and just sat there. The ride was pretty uneventful, they were almost there, then Gavin noticed a AvSEC van right behind them! One of the men leaned his head out the window and he was holding a pistol. Gavin immediate opened the door to the transport and jumped out.

"Go!" Gavin shouted to Mathias, who hung a U-Turn and shot past the AvSEC van. A few shots ran out as the man in the car tried to pick off Gavin but he missed. Gavin spotted an abandoned building and ran to it. He heard the van pull up and a few people jump out. He found a flight of stairs and was about to go up them when he noticed a door on them. He opened it up and saw a small storage space in it.

  
  


Three of the men from the van got up, each had pistols. They slowly walked into the building, guns pointing at any place Gavin might jump them.

"Remember, shoot first, find out if its him later." One of them warned.

"Ok, lets split up." Each of them checked different rooms, and one of them found a staircase. He was about to go up it, when he noticed there was a room below the stairs, with a light coming from it. The man grinned and held out his gun as he slowly went to the door. He flung it under just as a thump was heard above him. The floor fell through and a hail of dust, wood planks, and Gavin fell down on the soldiers head. Gavin grinned and picked up the pistol the man had been carrying, then ran off into another room.

  
  


The thud was heard through the entire house, and the two AvSEC agents ran into the room of its source. They ran up to the lump of dust wood, and the third AvSEC agent's body, one of the men checked his pulse and sighed. While he was still bent over, a shot rang out, and he fell forward as blood trickled from just above his left eye. The final living agent was taken off guard, and turned to the source of the shot, and started firing wildly.

  
  


Gavin had just taken out the second member of AvSEC following him, leaving one remaining when the soldier started firing at the doorway Gavin had been in moments before. He cursed at himself, he had hoped that the other guy hadn't been there at the time. He looked at his surroundings, he was in a kitchen, various pots were stacked on a shelf, and normal things to be found in a kitchen, like a stove or sink, were lined up against the far wall. Gavin frantically looked for something to help him, when he spotted a cupboard on the wall. It wasn't fixed there, but hanging. He grabbed it off the wall, but it was very heavy. He tipped it on its side and dishes slid out, making a large crash, but at the same time making the cupboard 20 pounds lighter. Gavin knew he alerted the other agent so he ran to a spot beside the door. The AvSEC agent ran in and started firing his pistol into the open area, hoping to hit Gavin, knowing that the boy wouldn't dare return fire unless in cover. However Gavin was right beside him, and with a powerful thrust, smashed the cupboard into the AvSEC agent's head. The cupboard splintered and fell to pieces on impact, and the agent was thrown to the side. Gavin whipped out his pistol and planted a shot into the man, making sure there would be no one to report what had happened. 

  
  


Gavin walked outside the house, and saw the van still there. He hoped no one was still in but the engine fired up. The van spun around to face him and it barreled towards. Gavin leaped out of the way into a roll, as the Van smashed through the front of the building. The old beaten up house collapsed, and much of the house fell onto the van, Gavin laughed at the crew's stupidity. However the back door of the van swung open, and Gavin began to worry. The van had a mounted machine gun. Gavin shot his pistol wildly at the van as he ran at full speed. The gun started firing, mostly hitting the ground, kicking up dust everywhere. Gavin had ran to the rubble of the house, positioning himself behind the van. He looked at the trench coat he wore, it had a bullet hole in it that had just missed him. He had one hope, he had to get to his AC. He began to run toward the hanger in the distance. The van pulled around the house and was now following him in reverse, and the machine gun was starting up. Gavin leaped toward the van but to the side. The van was going fast and passed right by him, and as it did, Gavin pumped off a shot at the tires. The satisfying pop was heard and the van had begun to try to turn towards him, they braked and ended up flipping. The van slid and smashed into a tree. Gavin crouched and held out his pistol. A man popped his head out of the window of the driver's seat and held out his pistol. He started shooting but his aim was no where near Gavin. The man was obviously hurt and shaken up from the accident and Gavin felt sorry as he pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and the man fell forward, half sticking out of the car, in a lifeless form.

  
  


Gavin approached the car, still wary of the second agent that could be in. He opened the door and a man was lying, not dead but unconscious. He shot his gun in the darkness and the man became void of his life, gasping and coughing blood as he died. Gavin sighed, out of all the cruddy duties in his life, killing a man before his eyes was the worst. There was a big different between blowing up a AC or a MT, and actually seeing the man as you shoot him. Gavin was about to leave when he heard a voice.

"Come in AvSEC agents, do you copy?" The voice had come from the dashboard. Gavin realized the van's radio transmitter still worked. Gavin checked the man he had just killed's pockets, he found the I.D. for the person.

"I copy, this is Kyle Falk." Gavin answered picking up the receiver and talking into it.

"Have you executed the traitor, Leag?"

"... affirmative, Gavin Leag is dead."

"Good, head back to base."

"Roger." Gavin turned off the radio, he placed the bodies so it looked like they had crashed after shooting Gavin. He went back to the house, dragged one of the other Agents from the rubble of the house, gave him some of his own identification and made it look like he had been shot. Gavin then went on, to go retrieve his mech.

  
  


The mech Meblanc, with its pilot Gavin Leag, flew into the hanger at the Tau organization's base. The suit was a tall one, with brow shoulders and much of the detail was it. The arms were a mixture of green and brown, while there was some red highlights. The suit had a large grey bazooka weapon on its right arm. On its left it had a standard saber part. The back had a large laser weapon, and a standard Radar part. The suit touched down and Gavin leaped out onto a ladder, and made his way down.

"It's a nice AC." Mathias commented and Gavin reached the ground.

"Thanks, I had to make a lot of the modifications myself, AvSEC doesn't exactly give you a wide choice of parts."

"You ok? When those goons showed up I though you weren't going to be coming back."

"I'm alright, the thing needs a tune up though, it hasn't been used for three months aside of tonight."

"I'll get my crew working on it, but you better see Asher, he isn't to happy about AvSEC finding you so quickly."

"I figured he wouldn't." Gavin and Mathias shook hands and Gavin went to find Asher's office.

  
  


Asher was furious. "You idiot!" he shouted. "You could have gotten Mathias killed, I'm surprised you didn't get yourself full of lead. And, not only that, they already found out your working for me!

"Actually." Replied Gavin, "They are totally unaware I am even looking for work."

"Then how did they find you!?!"

"They found the location of my AC, that is all."

"They can trace it! Those agents at least must have followed the suit!"

"Not possible."

"Listen you maniac, your probably good to survive them for two years, but your not the ultimate stealth warrior!"

"Yes sir." Gavin's response was very calm.

"Then they would have seen you."

"Dead men can't see sir."

"Pardon?"

"I killed the five agents."

"That isn't possible." Asher was taken aback by the claim.

"Actually sir it is, above all that, AvSEC now thinks that I am dead."

"They what?"

"They were informed that I had been killed."

"And how can you be sure of this?"

"I informed them."

"Don't be playing mind games, I am losing my patience!"

"Sir these aren't wild claims, I killed the agents, stole their I.D. and radioed the AvSEC headquarters informing them I was dead."

"How could you kill five AvSEC agents?"

"Sir, these were not well trained troops. They were simply five expendable AvSEC members, told to plant a few bombs on my AC. When they spotted me they radioed, said they saw me, and figured killing me would give them easy street. It wasn't hard to take them out."

"I am impressed Leag, you have far went past my expectations. You are dismissed."

  
  


Gavin once again entered the hanger. The large room held many parts and equipment, but nothing really expensive. Gavin looked around and saw Mathias and walked over.

"Asher give you a chewing out?"

"Yeah, but he stopped when he realized that more then anything that encounter got the AvSEC off me back."

"Alright, well good luck." Gavin turned to walk away but he heard Mathias call him.

"And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Welcome... to the Tau."

  
  


********************************************************************************************************************************************

Ok, now recover from the blinding stars that you just saw, because this is...

  
  


THE AUTHORS SPACE!

Yay.

  
  


The Author's space is where I will give extra information on... stuff.

  
  


Meblanc: Yeah, dumb name for the suit, I know. I would give you the list of parts (all of them were from AC2: AA) but I don't have the game therefore I can't tell you (also its not a possible AC because to put my equipment on I needed a Tank leg unit, but Meblanc in this has regular legs.) If anyone knows of a site with a list of all the parts (pictures or good description need to go along with it) that would help. But I will give you a description of all his weapons.

-Arm R: It's a Bazooka part as described earlier, I think there is only one Bazooka type thing but if it helps its ammo is 40 o.O

  
  


-Arm L: Ok, this I can't describe... the end sorta looks like it should be a missile launcher at the tip of it, but that doesn't help either o.O (it's a sword part not shield)

  
  


Back L: It's the standard radar part that the AC comes with, I was to lazy to change it to anything else.

  
  


Back R: Its this sweet weapon that fires a laser pulse, and it has this sweet flipping motion over the AC's shoulder when you use it

  
  


Also if I ever call the AC a suit in my fics, sorry, I am a big GW fan to.

  
  


--Characters and odd assorted stuff-- 

Ok you met Three characters: Mathias, Gavin, and Asher.

  
  


-Asher: The owner of the Tau Team. He wanted to be a Raven pilot but a deformity in his hand stopped him (its always the deformity isn't it?)

Asher is good hearted, but tends to panic when things go wrong.

  
  


-Gavin: He is a ex member of AvSEC. When AvSEC wanted his group to destroy a apartment building to kill a terrorist, he found out that the terrorist wasn't even there, and that the agent that ordered him to do it, has insurance on his things in a apartment he owned in the building, Gavin was disgusted and quit. However he made a huge dent in AvSEC when he blew up a factory as he left, since then he has been avoiding them.

Gavin is friendly, which is off considering his past. He thinks quick, but doesn't always plan out the best strategy (as could be seen when he emptied the cupboard and gave away his location in this chapter)

  
  


-Mathias: He is a mechanic for Tau. He is a good friend of Gavin, and a experienced foot soldier, giving him great ability in hand to hand combat, and shootouts.

Mathias is good natured, and has a high respect for most people. However he is often to trusting.

  
  


Tau: The Tau is Asher's Organization. It is a Mercenary for hire team, that sponsors the Raven Meblanc. The organization is currently failing, as it had very little funds to begin 

with.

  
  


AvSEC: Avon Sector law enforcement, a brutal group who seems to commit more crimes then they stop. Even other law enforcement teams fear them. They are well funded so they are able to use ACs to 'protect the law' but most people hate the organization anyway.

  
  


I think I covered everything. As a final note I want to say that I have only played AC1: Master of Arena, and AC2: Another Age, so I don't' know all that much. I don't have the games either, so I don't know much off memory. So no flames please.

  
  


Anyway R/R and thanks.


	2. Gavin's Ride

Team Tau

By Race Baj

  
  


I do not own the Armored Core series.

  
  


Chapter 2: Gavin's Ride

  
  


Asher walked down the steel steps of the hanger, into the large room. He gazed over it, comforted to have a AC positioned in it. He walked up to the looming figure of Meblanc. The tall green and brown AC was powerful and thick. It stood looming over him, giving him a sense of security. He looked around for Gavin and spotted him working on the AC, up above him, on a metal scaffold.

"Gavin!" Asher called. Gavin was surprised and dropped the tool, which Asher caught.

"Yeah?"Gavin began to decent the scaffold ladder.

"We got a mission." Gavin landed beside Asher and wiped grease off his face.

"Ok, what is it?"

"Hold on, I have a video record in my office."

"Alright, lets go."

  
  


Later in the office, Asher and Gavin were both seated. Asher turned the lights off and a orange 3D hologram emerged from the table. It was a map of their region. One section was highlighted in yellow, Gavin noticed it as Old Vega City.

"Hello Raven." A female computerized voice began. "This is Old Vega City. The occupation of, the Golden Ranger Squad." A three dimensional insignia appeared as she was talking. "They are a terrorist group that launches attacks on us, the Gamma Pro. Company. We are greatly angered by this and wish for you launch a attack on one of their bases. Your object is to attack the outside of their central MT production plant." Several images of the MT types were shown. One was a floating cone with a gun at the bottom. Gavin almost laughed at the corny design of it. Another showed what looked like a motor cycle with several mounted guns, Gavin cursed, his AC was slow, made for powerfulness, stuff like that always left their mark. The final was a tank, which surprised Gavin, not many used a model like this, they must not be funded well.

"At this time we are launching attacks on other production plants, your success is crucial. We will pay very highly, especially if you can literally take it over. Your occupation of the plant is not necessary, but helpful." Several pictures of the plant were given.

"Tight security?" Gavin asked the computer.

"Yes. Raven you are to survive if possible. Many MTs will try to attack you, however, destroy all you can." The computer gave off some clunking noises and shut down, the lights came back on and Asher looked over to Gavin.

"Think you can do it?"

"No problem." Gavin saluted and left the room to go back to the hanger.

  
  


"Two minutes to drop." The computerized voice of the AC Meblanc said to Gavin as he prepared himself. He was to be dropped in Old Vega City, not far from the plant, then make his way there, and let hell break loose. The mission would not be a easy one, but he would get payed more for the more damage he did, so it was his kind of mission. The seconds ticked by in the cockpit's clock, until the floor gave way. The AC began to fall and Gavin checked his radar, everything was clear. His altitude was dropping fast as the AC plummeted down to the rocky areas beneath. When he reached the target distance Gavin gunned the boosters and slowly he descended the rest of the way. He touched down on ground. 500 yards away. He started to make his way toward the base, no obstacles along the way. After a few minutes his AC had slowly made its way to the destination. Gavin stood before the giant plant, smoke rising from the factory, it would be filled with MTs and there was no time to waste. Meblanc charged up and quickly drove its saber into the factory's wall! Alarms blared as it cut into the giant building. A warning light said that he had hit the red zone, so Gavin shut off Meblanc's saber. He pulled the AC back and aimed at the entrance. Suddenly he was hit from above by machine gun fire.

  
  


Meblanc, the giant AC pulled up its back weapon, and Gavin tried to get a lock on the flying MT. The MT shifted to the right, exactly in the center of Meblanc's lock. Gavin wasted no time and fired. The MT exploded, sending parts raining all across the ground. Gavin checked his radar, seeing there were more MTs on the way, and flipped his AC's vision forward as he het his saber release. He slashed through a MT that had the intention of slashing Meblanc, but it wasn't a MT he had seen in the briefing. This particular one was dark green and had shoulder mounted turrets. He saved some information onto his temporary hard drive in the AC, his employers would pay highly for that kind of information.

  
  


Gavin glanced at his radar, three MTs were coming in fast. His viewer showed them as the smaller more maneuverable type. Meblanc rocketed his boosters to the side, dodging some of the machine gun fire. He fired his bazooka weapon but the MTs were to fast. He switched to his shoulder part and took careful aim. He got a lock as the three started coming, and shot the middle one. It exploded in a hail of sparks and fire, the other two MTs panicked and went off course, making the first MT's sacrifice useless.

  
  


The gun folded back into Meblanc's shoulder as he flew at one of the MTs. He stopped when he had gotten closer and pulled his gun back up. His suit had very little damage so far and Machine Gun isn't a very powerful weapon. He took two shots with his gun, one landed in front of the MT, while the other hit dead on. The crunched and flaming body started flipping until smashing into the stone wall of the manufacturing plant, and exploded.

  
  


Again Gavin glanced toward his radar, four MTs were listed. He turned to the one closest to him. It was a tank type, with a very large gun that had just fired. The explosion shook the AC but Gavin returned fire with his Bazooka. The tank caught fire and flipped onto its back, leaving a simple wreck. Gavin flipped his weapon to his laser cannon mounted on his back. He looked around and found he was getting machine gun fire from above, and the remaining motor bike MT. He took one shot, but turned before he found out if he hit the motor bike, but it disappeared off radar so Gavin assumed he had.

  
  


Gavin spotted the flying MT. He followed it with skill and precision, but it was so far away, a shot from his weapon wouldn't kill it. Gavin gunned his boosters, rasing his AC far off the ground. He was close to the MT when he shot his bazooka, blasting it out of the sky to the ground below. Just then a shot rocked the AC from behind. It fell to the ground and turned around and thrust its saber into the MT. Fire emerged from the MT as it exploded pushing Meblanc back. 

  
  


Meblanc's radar showed no more MTs on radar which was surprising to Gavin, but then a sigh horrified him. At least 10 of the Tank MTs had just piled out of a opening in the plant. They all began to fire and Gavin did his best to dodge. He started firing his bazooka into the fray, blowing many of the enemy suits apart.

"How am I doing?" Gavin cried out over his communications link, to Asher.

"You have to hold out long kid, their attack isn't finished." Meblanc kept firing and getting hit and Gavin noticed that only three MTs were left. He flew in close and ignited his saber. It tore along the ground, and through the remaining tank MTs. Gavin gave a sigh of relief, but his suit was only at 62% armor points.

  
  


He waited for more to come out and he noticed three flying MTs appearing on radar. He switched over to his back weapon and took close aim. They weren't shooting, he obviously wasn't in their range yet, but they were in his. He pulled the trigger and set a wave of energy into one of the, blowing it into the air. The other two began to zig zag around the sky in a furious attempt to dodge. Meblanc stood still, waiting for them to come into his target. He pumped off a few shots, blowing up one, leaving only a single MT to deal with. However Meblanc spun around, and fired a shot directly at a transport truck, and went to face the MT again.

"That will rack up a few more grand." Gavin said to himself as he tried to get a lock on the MT, that had started shooting at him now. He switched to his bazooka, because of its higher targeting ranger, and quickly locked on. After three shots he hit and the MT showered sparks down on his AC.

"Enemy AC approaching." Meblanc's computer warned, as a blast door began opening, and the feet of a AC could be seen.

"The hell it will!" Gavin shouted as he boosted at the highest speed he could and drove his saber into a large control panel, stopping the door. 

"How much longer?" Gavin said, a bit of panic in his voice.

"The carrier should be there any second." Asher replied.

"Carrier approaching." The computerized voice agreed with Asher.

"Dang, its to high!" Gavin cursed the pilot. He flew Meblanc up to higher ground, nearly depleting his energy. As it was charging the carrier flew by. It had slowed down and detached a magnetic hook. It jammed into the AC and lifted it up. Gavin let out a sigh, and realized since the message about the AC had showed up, he had been breathing quite heavily. Gavin loosened himself up and lay back in his cockpit.

"Good job kid!" Asher's exited voice came over the AC's comm.

"How did we do."

"Better then expected! This is going to get a lot of creditors off my back. You are one good raven!"

"I am... aren't it."

  
  


A/N: Ok what did you think? Feedback? Flames?


	3. Betrayed

Team Tau

By Race Baj

  
  


I do not own the Armored Core series.

  
  


Chapter 3: Betrayed

  
  


Gavin wiped the a cloth over his AC, it was beginning to shine. Since he got it, Gavin had treated it like a new car, constantly washing and waxing it, though it made no difference to the look of it, it was just a habit.

"Gavin!" Asher said, walking in.

"Yo."

"We have a mission!"

"Great, I'll be over to the briefing room."

"Forget it, emergency, briefing was quick, just get down there!"

"Alright sir. Mathias get my AC ready now."

"Yes sir." Mathias answered.

  
  


"Alright Gavin." Asher instructed over the comm. "Your mission is attack a few transport trucks, belonging to the Anden Region, the drop is in ten minutes, just shoot the things up, and get out of there, it will be a piece of cake."

"Defenders?"

"Two enemy MTs."

"Your kidding me?"

"Nope, should be easy."

  
  


Gavin's suit dropped from the plane onto the bridge. He screen showed some trucks not far off. He touched down, the bridge shaking a bit, being a suspension. Suddenly however a small humanoid like MT came up in front of him. Without thinking Gavin popped out a shot with his Bazooka, disintegrating the MT in front of him, but a quick glance to his radar told him he needed to turn around. As he did he ignited his sword and slashed through the MT before him. Three were behind him again and he spun around, this time using the laser gun on the AC's back to shoot them down, taking a bit of machine gun fire.

"Asher, what the hell is this?" Gavin demanded.

"I don't know kid, just take 'em out." He replied, his voice frantic.

Gavin's heart nearly stopped as a sound was heard. 'Enemy AC detected.' But even worse were the words that followed 'AC detected as part of AvSEC' Gavin had installed that feature himself just in case.

"It's a set up." he sighed as he saw the AC approaching.

'Second Enemy AC detected. AC detected as part of AvSEC' Gavin was getting a bit nervous. The one approaching was fast, and the second one came quite bulky, with a tank bottom, going over the bridge. As the first AC passed by it tried with its saber but Gavin used his own to block, then popped a shot off with his bazooka. The enemy AC was clipped by the shot and turned around again. It hailed machine gun fire at Gavin who charged in his own way on his boosters, firing laser. One got its target and the AC fell back. Gavin turned and flew toward the bride again. The enemy AC was unsuccessfully firing but Gavin had an Idea. He began at his highest speed to charge toward the large AC with his saber out... cutting the cables suspending the bridge! The bridge tilted to one side bu the AC stood its ground, however firing became harder for it. Gavin landed and shot at the AC's treads with his bazooka while he waited for his energy to recharge. The AC lost control and plummeted into the water, but didn't have enough booster power to get himself back to safety. Gavin now had to worry about the faster AC that had now regained a bit of control. It charged at him and Gavin now looked at the incoming titan. He growled and gunned his boosters unexpectingly to the side, making his target miss him and cut the rest of the ropes holding up the bridge with its sword. The strain was too much as Gavin landed his AC again and the bridge began to collapse. The target trucks were on the bridge, trying to get away, and now fell into the water, meaning Gavin had accomplished his mission. He had only to deal with the AC who was obviously a fairly bad pilot. The AC charged again and Gavin clashed their sabers, overrode the intense power warning sign and shot his shoulder mounted laser cannon right into the AC's face! The AC fell back, nearly blind from the shot and Gavin shot his AC's Bazooka into the center of the opponent AC several times. He Finally sliced it with his saber so sparks were flying from it. Just then a warning sigh came up and he was blasted from the side with a huge laser blast. He couldn't pick anything up on his radar, but his suit was in shambles after the blast. He new it had been backup from AvSEC, only they had weapons that strong! He boosted off toward the pickup area with no trouble then headed back to base.

  
  


"What do you mean it WASN'T a set up, AvSEC new I was there!" Gavin shouted at Asher.

"I am telling you kid, there is proof they had nothing to do with it, and the money we made covered most of your repairs." Asher responded calmly.

"Its not the repairs, I couldn't care less, its your money." Asher frowned at his comment. "It's the point! Who could have known about this besides us and our employers?"

"Gavin, don't be so paranoid. That could have been intercepted by hundreds of businesses or AvSEC themselves."

"I still don't trust them."

  
  


Gavin walked into the cool breeze of the open hanger. He started toward Asher's office, the leader of Geva Netia wanted them for a mission. The mechanics ran around the hanger, for some reason they were putting a large missile unit on Meblanc's shoulder, instead of his Laser Cannon. Asher must have ordered it for this mission. He stopped in front of Mathias' work station.

"Hey Gavin, what can I do for ya?" Mathias asked, getting up from a power complusor jammer.

"I need you to put this on the biggest power supply in the base, right away!" Gavin said handing Mathias a black box.

"This is a transmission interceptor." Mathias exclaimed.

"Yes, I want to know every transmission that goes out of this base. I think that someone is leaking info to AvSEC."

"Alright Gavin, but you won't find anything." Gavin nodded and walked away toward Asher's office.

  
  


Gavin walked inside the office, Asher was inside and there was a Chinese Woman with him.

"Gavin, this is The leader of the Geva Netia corporation."

"Nice to meet you miss...?"

"None of your concern." The woman said calmly. "You are here to be hired."

"Yes ma'am." Gavin rolled his eyes and took a seat.

"Raven, we have word that our air base will be attacked by AvSEC tomorrow at 0800, and we can not afford an attack to be brought against us."

"Why would you have a air base, I though Geva Netia is a software company."

"The software company is a mask, we are actually the biggest supplier of illegal weapons."

"So now it comes out." Gavin said with none surprise.

"Yes, well we want you to defend us from AvSEC"

"Who else have you hired for this job."

"No one, you are our sole Raven."

"Then the mission is out of the question, I will not fight AvSEC ACs on my own!" Gavin burst.

"Relax Raven, they will only be attacking with bombers and fighters."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, intelligence shows most other ACs are assigned to other areas."

"And if a AC shows up?"

"We are confident it won't"

"none of that 'we are confident' crap, what if the AC shows up?"

"You could either stay and fight it, for a large bonus, or high tail it out of there like a coward." Gavin laughed at the comment, she obviously worked with AC pilots with large egos, although it was hard to find one that didn't have one.

"Alright then, I'll take the mission."

"Good because I already accepted for you." Asher cut in. "I am having your AC fit with a new missile system."

"Good, I'll get ready to leave."

  
  


Within the hour Gavin was suited up, psychologically ready, and in the hanger. His AC suit was fitted with the missiles, and now was in the back of a truck. Mathias approached him as he was getting into the truck.

"Its in place Gavin." He explained.

"Great, keep a monitor on it."

"Alright, good luck."

  
  


Gavin drove for awhile with the driver in silence, finally he spoke.

"So I hear you used to be in AvSEC?" The driver questioned.

"One of the best pilots there." Gavin replied.

"Not better then Bokirosh." The driver laughed. Bokirosh was the highest ranking pilot for AvSEC, he could take on 25 MTs and come out of it no problem.

"I worked with him for awhile..." Gavin simply said.

"Bull! You worked with Bokirosh?"

"Yeah, we were in a few missions."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It doesn't matter if you believe me." The driver was silent for a few minutes, then spoke up.

"What kind of person is Bokirosh?"

"He is the least honorable pilot in that hell hole of a protection force! I have seen him kill a AC pilot that was assisting him, to get a bigger reward!" Gavin snapped.

"Well all of AvSEC are no good." The driver nodded. "My name is Kourth."

"I'm Gavin. You work for The Tau, or are you with the Geva Netia?"

"I'm new the Tau, I will be flying, and driving all transports for your missions, and supplies, stuff like that." The rest of the ride has quiet, except for the sound of Meblanc banging around in the truck.

  
  


They arrived at the airbase and Gavin was ordered to immediately get in his AC. Son Meblanc was activated and standing in the middle of the airbase.

"Heads up Raven, this is your controller, you have 3 bombers incoming." A male voice came over Meblanc's comm. Gavin turned his AC towards where the radar showed them. He had no visual but he had a lock on. He shot three missiles from his back missile pod at one of the targets.

"Controller I have no visual and targets are too far away for radar to tell, is there conformation on a hit?"

"Roger Raven, we have contact and destruction on target 1." Gavin smiled and let three more missiles go towards another bomber.

"Control?"

"We have a hit Raven, but not a destruction, bomber two is still standing."

"Dang." Gavin let go two more missiles at the bomber. By now they had gotten a lot closer and he could see for himself, that bomber two went down.

"We have destruction Raven, good work."

"Roger Controller, I have radar now, thanks for the help." Now Meblanc sent out three missiles at the remaining bomber.

"Raven, this is Controller, bomber let go a missile headed straight for us, we need some help!" Gavin hit his booster and flew left in front of the Controller tower. His radar didn't show missiles and he had no visual, but he armed his bazooka for attack. In a few seconds he saw the missile and let a shell fly, destroying the missile, post impact.

"Missile, destroyed Controller." Gavin said over the comm.

"Thanks Raven. 4 fighters coming up, we are arming to turrets to help you." The fighters were a lot faster then bombers and Gavin had them in his radar in no time. He shot two missiles at two of the targets each, but noticed a missile approaching fast. The two fighters he shot at went down, and the missile exploded in front of him, sending concrete, dirt, and stone rubble in front of his viewing screen. However using his radar he targeted another fighter and shot two missiles at it. Gavin got his vision back in time to see the fighter dodge one missile, but one came from behind and he spiraled down into the wasteland below. Now the other one flew over the base letting a few minor bombs go, hitting the base but doing little damage. Wanting to conserve missiles Gavin used his bazooka to take out the flying menace and it shattered in air from the explosion, raining down molten metal on the base below, a large chunk of it nailing Meblanc's left shoulder. In the few seconds of calm Gavin moved Meblanc away from the wall, to make sure incase of a fall, he would not destroy any buildings. 

"Controller, anything else coming?"

"You bet Raven, five copters started approaching, they should be close to you by now."

"I got nothing on my radar, but I see visual, something must have happened when that metal nailed it. I'm going to need you to be my radar for the rest of the mission." Gavin got his missiles set up, and shot one at each target in quick succession."

"We got a connection on all copters, but only one went down."

"Dangit." Gavin switched his attention to his bazooka, and noticed the bases turrets firing at the attackers. Two copters went down and two well placed shots by Gavin took out the remaining two.

"Good work Raven... wait a minute, ground unit is coming."

"This is Vega, a AC for AvSEC, you are ordered to abandon this base now!" A female voice bellowed over the comm to Gavin.

"Raven, this is controller, are you going to stay to help us?"

"AvSEC has no right in shutting you down, I'll take out this AC, you keep those bombers and fighters at bay."

"Thank's Raven." The controller responded.

Gavin gunned his boosters full and flew over the large walls of the base. He flew to meet the AC which he now had visual. It was a hovering AC, which brought a smile to Gavin's face, a few well place shots would ground a hovering AC for the rest of the battle. He brought up his missiles and fired a burst of 3 missiles. He did this twice, sending the six missiles at the attacking AC. The Enemy AC ejected missile targets to stop the missiles, so Gavin shot several more bursts. After 10 more missiles he ran out, but 4 had found their mark on the enemy AC Vega. Gavin continued to charge onward, his only weapon being a Bazooka, and hovering ACs being fast, this put him at a disadvantage. The AC flew above and over Meblanc, but Gavin was quick to turn the AC around and fire a shot as Vega landed, smashing into its back. Vega was armed with duel chain guns on its back and the bullets flew all around, and into, Meblanc as Gavin desperately tried to dodge. As the quick AC hit its over boosters, Gavin has his chance. He jabbed his sword forward and as the AC zoomed by him unloading its chain gun ammo into Meblanc, it was literally, close lined by the sword. The speed took its head clean off, and caused such a disruption in balance the suit started flipping forward. Good piloting and use of the AC's boosters got it back out, and it was ready to fight without a head! This would mean the AC would be using simply its radar to attack. The perfect weapon for this kind of strategy unfortunately for Gavin, are chain guns. He moved to the left as the suit fired and took two shots at its lower with his bazooka. They pounded into the hovering mechanism and it fell to the ground, unable to move lest it use its boosters. With no way of seeing, Gavin noticed this didn't occur to the AC, so he moved behind it. He now took shots with his bazooka and blasted off its chain guns, then a few more shots destroyed the suits arms. It now had no way of moving and Gavin had a prisoner for Geva Netia.

  
  


Gavin returned the broken AC to the base and strapped his AC to the truck and drove off. He got back to the base and unloaded his gear.

"Bad news Gavin." Mathias ran up to him.

"A communication was intercepted."

"Yeah, someone in the team."

"Who?"

"A mechanic that has been with us from the start." He shrugged.

"..." Just then a shot rang out and a bullet smashed into the ground. Both looked up and saw on the scaffolding above, a man in a mechanic's clothes. "Our spy?" Mathias nodded in response and everyone ducked down. Gavin took his pistol from his side and got back to his feet. The attacker was looking around now, and Gavin took careful aim. He shot and moments later, the attacker fell off the scaffold and Gavin walked up to body, with Mathias coming behind him. They looked at the motionless figure, blood oozing from his leg, and his neck obviously broken.

"Nice shot." Mathias sighed as the others present in the room stood up, and a few came to inspect the body. A phone to the side rang and one of the workers ran and picked it up, he then shouted over to Gavin.

"Asher wants to see you Gavin."

  
  


Gavin stood before Asher in his office. The man tapped his fingers on the desk as he looked at his pilot. 

"Gavin... when you first came here... I was desperate, so I took you onboard, despite the fact I thought your story was bull, and you had a broken down hunk of junk! But you turned out to prove me wrong. I also said, if AvSEC gives us trouble, you were off the organization... and I'm a man of my word." Asher sighed as he finished. Gavin gave a nod.

"I understand sir." 

"However... you are the best pilot I have ever seen. And since I still would need a pilot with his own AC... I think we will keep you here." Asher and Gavin exchanged smiles, then Gavin nodded and left, and Asher went back to his paperwork.


End file.
